NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Julia C. Dudley Acting United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
June 27, 2008
DETROIT MAN SENTENCED FOR TRAFFICKING NARCOTICS INTO THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Acting United States Attorney Julie Dudley announced today that Terrance Orlando Chatman, Jr., age 27, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced to 10 years’ incarceration in a federal penitentiary on June 26, 2008.
Chatman was charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Hydromorphone, a Schedule II Controlled Substance and Possession with Intent to Distribute more than 5 grams of Crack Cocaine, a Schedule II Controlled Substance. Chatman pled guilty on April 22, 2008 to both counts.
Evidence presented at Chatman’s guilty plea hearing indicated that on September 29, 2005 a Bluefield, Virginia hotel employee notified the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office of an unusual smell coming from one of its occupied rooms. Chatman was found to be the occupant of the room in question and a search warrant of the room revealed a large amount of the narcotic drug hydromorphone, also known as Dilaudid, as well as a substantial quantity of crack cocaine and cash. Chatman was arrested on state charges and subsequently fled the Commonwealth while on bond. Chatman was arrested in Ohio in 2007 and extradited back to Virginia, where he was indicted on federal charges of narcotics trafficking.
At Chatman’s sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Virginia, the evidence revealed that he had previously been convicted in Detroit, Michigan of distribution of crack cocaine. Further, that he still faces charges in West Virginia and Ohio for various narcotics and firearms charges. The Honorable Glen Williams sentenced Chatman to 120 months on each count to run concurrently and placed him on eight years probation upon his release from incarceration.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Tazewell County Narcotics Task Force and the Bluefield West Virginia Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Dennis Lee prosecuted the case.